Worship Resources for Sunday May 24th

We encourage you to read and reflect on these scriptures, songs, notes, and prayers as we look forward to our time of worship together this coming Sunday.

Please print this guide or have it handy in digital format for use during the service.

And don’t forget to join us Sunday immediately following the service in our virtual foyer for a group video chat! https://us04web.zoom.us/j/202653556

SERMON SCRIPTURE

In the days leading up to our Sunday gathering, please read through the sermon scripture as the Holy Spirit prepares your heart for the sermon inspired by this passage.

1 Peter 5:6-11 (NRSV)

CALL TO WORSHIP

Bold lines to be read aloud corporately.

God, show your faithfulness to us,
bless us, and make your face smile upon us!
For then the whole earth will acknowledge your ways,
and all the nations of earth will know of your power to save.

May all the nations praise you, O God;
may all the nations praise you!

MUSIC

We are so thrilled to be singing together this week. Join us if you are comfortable or simply allow the music and lyrics bring comfort and peace to your soul.

None But Thee
Written by Eric J. Marshall and John Fellows ©2011, CCLI #6291877
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

CONFESSIONAL PRAYER

Bold lines to be read aloud corporately.

Holy God, we confess that we do not trust You fully. We put our hope in worldly gain and in human promises, and find ourselves defeated and lost when things fall apart. You have given us a love more fully than anything we could experience in this world but we do not seek it, we do not hold on to it, and we look to our own means of assurance and security.

Forgive us.

Call us back to You that we may put our trust in You and not be afraid.

May we hear the words so clearly as the disciples did on the day of the Transfiguration; may we rise up, and not be afraid. In the name of Jesus, who loves us and offers us forgiveness, we pray. Amen.

(Inspired by Mark 9:2-9, Matthew 17:1-9)

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

You are God’s Beloved; with you, God is well pleased. You are renewed and restored. You are forgiven and loved. You are a new creation in Christ, everything old has passed away; see, everything is becoming new.

All: Thanks be to God

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

As we pray together, we invite you to share your own requests and testimonies with us this week. If you have a request you can share it live in our video stream chat, or you may email us at emmausroadfc@gmail.com

WORD

Ascension Sunday
1 Peter 5:6-11 (NRSV)

Today is Ascension Sunday. The ascension of Christ to the right hand of God is a way of recognizing that Christ has been raised up or promoted to his place of authority over heaven and earth where he now fills the cosmos with his presence. The ascension is not a way of explaining his apparent absence in the world; it is about the cosmic presence of Christ filling the earth as he now rules over all the nations.

This is the theological backdrop of our passage this morning. The letter of First Peter deals with themes of persecution and the general sufferings of life and gives us theological grounding for hope in the midst of suffering. 

GOD IS IN CONTROL?
As we all try to make sense of what is happening in our world, I’ve heard many Christians key in on the idea that God is in charge. However, the way I hear it talked about is troublesome.

Much of the time, “God is in charge” is taken to mean the same thing as “God is in control.”

However, saying “God is in charge” IS NOT the same as saying “God is in control.” To figure this out, we need to look no further than we Jesus received his crown (of thorns).

God in Christ sees that the world needs healing because everything is not as God would will or intend. So, he takes on our sin and defeats death through resurrection. This is his act of kingship. This is how he rules. He does not rule with control over all the details of life, he rules with authority. On the cross he demonstrated his charge (authority) over sin by not falling victim to revenge, insult, or violence toward those who sinned against him. When met with sin, he was able to respond with forgiveness.

He then demonstrated his charge (authority) over death itself through resurrection. God is in charge is what these actions proclaim.

God does not rule the world through control, God rules the world through self-giving love.

“The cross reveals that God’s omnipotence is not primarily about control but about his compelling love. God conquers evil and wins the heart of people by self-sacrificial love, not by coercive force.”

Greg Boyd, Is God to Blame, pg. 49

PETER’S BENEDICTION
All of this sits in the background of Peter’s benediction (close of his letter) after writing about hope in the midst of suffering. He says:

Keep yourselves humble: Without humility, we tend to place our trust in ourselves rather than in Christ. Without humility, we will be tempted to turn ourselves into gods and our enemies into the devil (this is why Peter reminds us that there is a real enemy who seeks to destroy us, but it isn’t our fellow humans).

Cast our anxiety upon him: Cast your anxiety up on him because the Ruler Over All the Nations has filled the world with his presence, defeated death, and rules with self-giving love. Whatever the nature of our anxiety can be cast upon the One who is good.

Christ himself will restore, support, strengthen, and establish you: The idea of restoration, support, strength, and a firm foundation is attractive to us just as it was to Peter’s first audience.

Peter’s encouragement is that these are found in Christ, the Resurrected & Ascended King.

May we know the nature of God’s sovereignty and rest in His goodness.

TABLE

Prepare the elements of “bread” and “wine” for use as we gather around The Lord’s Table. These can be any items convenient around the home that symbolize these for you. 

CONFESSION OF FAITH

Leader: In unity with the Church throughout the ages, we confess our faith: 
All: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father in heaven,
        hallowed be your Name,
        your kingdom come,
        your will be done,
        on earth as in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins
        as we forgive those
        who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, 
        and deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, 
        and the power,
        and the glory for ever and ever.
Amen.

BENEDICTION

O God, we are one with you.
You have made us one with you.
You have taught us that if we are open to one another,
you dwell in us.
Help us to preserve this openness
and to fight for it with all our hearts.

Help us to realize that there can be no understanding
where there is mutual rejection.
O God, in accepting one another wholeheartedly, fully, completely,
we accept you, and we thank you, and we adore you,
and we love you with our whole being,
because our being is in your being,
our spirit is rooted in your spirit.

Fill us then with love,
and let us be bound together with love as we go our diverse ways,
united in this one spirit which makes you present in the world,
and makes you witness to the ultimate reality that is love.
Love has overcome.
Love is victorious.

(Written by Thomas Merton)